The Trump Revolution Begins

Historic Upset: The Donald Trump political revolution is underway.

Country prevailed over city. Whites over minorities. The uneducated over the educated. The pitchfork crowd over the salad fork set. In a stunning upset that defied months of opinion polling, the 70-year-old Trump won 279 Electoral College votes to be elected the 45th president of the United States.

Americans who feel forgotten, run over, and left behind, won the election. The Republican party will control all three houses of government next year, leaving it unfettered to pursue its agenda, including the repeal of Obamacare.

The enormity of the upset win over Hillary Clinton and the uncertainty it brings threw jitters into world financial markets. Futures on the Dow Jones were down 800 points for a time overnight as investors considered Trump’s promise to unravel international trade agreements and “drain the swamp” in Washington.

Hillary Clinton called Trump to concede, but as of this morning had not delivered a concession speech. Supporters left in tears from what was to have been her victory party in New York.

After a long night of watching close results tilt his way, Trump delivered a conciliatory victory speech. He didn’t say the election was rigged or that he was going to build his wall. He didn’t say he would send Hillary Clinton to prison or deport all illegal immigrants.  “Working together,” he said, “we will begin the urgent task of rebuilding our nation and renewing the American dream. I’ve spent my entire life and business looking at the untapped potential in projects and in people all over the world. That is now what I want to do for our country.

Trump said, “It’s going to be a beautiful thing. Every single American will have the opportunity to realize his or her fullest potential. The forgotten men and women of our country will be forgotten no longer.”

Trump promised, “We are going to fix our inner cities and rebuild our highways, bridges, tunnels, airports, schools, hospitals. We’re going to rebuild our infrastructure, which will become, by the way, second to none. And we will put millions of our people to work as we rebuild it.”

The Numbers: The unknown vote became known, surprising the pollsters who had predicted a Clinton victory. Trump rode in on a surge that appears to have surprised even his own campaign, which was sounding doleful in the late hours of voting.

Part of the post-mortem on this election will be examining how the pollsters got it so wrong. CBS News voting analyst Frank Luntz said, “I think it’s really a very good day for democracy, and it’s a very bad day for pollsters.”

This morning, Hillary Clinton was leading in the popular vote with several states still too close to call. New Hampshire, Michigan, and Arizona are still in play, but they don’t carry enough Electoral College votes to save her.

It was evident shortly after Eastern polls closed that Clinton was in trouble. Florida was too close to call and so was Pennsylvania, where she had led in the polls throughout the campaign.

Trump eventually took Florida, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Ohio, a sweep that put the presidency out of reach for Clinton.

Trump won men by 12 percent and white voters without a college education by 67 percent. Nine out of 10 Republicans ended up voting for Trump.

For her part, Clinton underperformed in particular with young and Hispanic voters.

Congress: The Democrats won only a single new Senate seat, leaving the Republicans in charge 51-47, with two independents. Republicans continue as the majority in the House, giving their party control of all three houses of government, and the power to shape the Supreme Court for decades to come.

The World Reacts: Russian President Vladimir Putin, who had been accused of trying to engineer the election in Trump’s favor, congratulated Trump and said in a Kremlin statement that he hoped “for cooperation in ending a crisis in Russian-American relations.”

Far right wing parties in Europe celebrated the election of an American president they believe mirrors their nationalist, anti-immigrant beliefs.

France’s ambassador to the US tweeted, “After Brexit and this election, anything is now possible. A world is crumbling before our eyes. Vertigo.” A headline in New Zealand said, “Dear America …. No You Can’t.”

Final Word: After running one of the bitterest campaigns in American history, Donald Trump said in his victory speech, “Now it’s time for America to bind the wounds of division; have to get together. To all Republicans and Democrats and independents across this nation, I say it is time for us to come together as one united people. It’s time. I pledge to every citizen of our land that I will be president for all Americans, and this is so important to me.”

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Thursday, March 28, 2024

Page Two

The Most Corrupt Justice

Monday, October 2, 2023

Democracy and Video in the Dark

Sunday, February 26, 2023

Page Two: Do the Right Thing

Tuesday, February 1, 2022

Page Two: Sound Recall

Monday, September 13, 2021

Page Two: Cuomo Must Go

Friday, August 13, 2021

Trump and the Truth

Tuesday, November 3, 2020

The “Great” President

Monday, March 30, 2020

The Wright Stuff

Saturday, February 29, 2020

It's Been Said

"In my mind, I’ve never crossed the line with anyone, but I didn’t realize the extent to which the line has been redrawn. There are generational and cultural shifts that I just didn’t fully appreciate, and I should have, no excuses."

-Andrew Cuomo, resigning as governor of New York after accusations of sexual harassment

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